The Mastermind: this art theft heist offers a compassionate character study

By Barry Langford, Professor of Film Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London

Most caper movies tend to focus on the elaborate logistics of a theft – typically of an outlandishly colossal haul or priceless artefact (think Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian Job). In contrast, their close cousin, the heist film, focuses less on the mechanics of the crime and more on its invariably destructive human consequences (such as in Heat or The Town).

While The Mastermind falls firmly into the latter camp, writer-director Kelly Reichardt dials down the genre’s hard-boiled violence and tension in favour of a downbeat, compassionately ironic character study.

It’s bleak…

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